Forgive the Yoda phraseology, but not even the little green guy with the Force and a Hefner robe possibly could have foreseen the San Francisco 49ers getting hammered (again), or which teams would occupy Nos. 10 through 15 in these rankings, or Andy Reid deciding that running the ball is a fun way to coach football. Yep, the NFL season isn't even 20 percent in the books, and it's already getting weird.

Ah, Jeff. Love the tactic. Threaten with what you want, then soften the blow with a compliment. That's like saying to your girlfriend, "I'm going out with my friends tonight. Oh, and you look amazing in that sundress." Smart. As for your Chicago Bears, you were right on the money there, too. They've earned their ranking below with a 3-0 start, improved play up front and Matt Forte looking smooth in white cleats.

Meanwhile, some other NFC teams that had winning records last year continue to plummet in our Power Rankings, as you'll see. Were we too hard on them? As always, your take is welcome ... @Harrison_NFL is the place.

It sure wasn't vintage
Tom Brady (225 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception), but it was enough to get it done against a pretty strong
Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense. The 14th-year vet seems to have found something -- or someone -- in
Kenbrell Thompkins, an undrafted rookie who caught both scoring tosses from the
Hall of Fame-bound quarterback Sunday. On the flip side: What a quality performance from the
Patriots' secondary. We didn't see
23-3 coming.

Power Rankings sidenote: Getting a lot of feedback on New England being so high. While the
Patriots don't feel like a No. 3 team, they're tied for the second-fewest points allowed in the NFL. Meanwhile,
Tom Brady is still the quarterback, and there's
a solid chance that the team's second-best player --
Rob Gronkowski -- comes back this week. And which team in the NFL has allowed fewer points than New England? That would be Seattle.

RANK

4

3-0SAINTS

4

Here's a fun football question: How many wins is
Sean Payton worth in a season? Three? Seriously, hit me up
@Harrison_NFL; I'm curious to see if you think I'm overreacting.

Payton doesn't coach the defense, but that unit sure is interested in playing for him and coordinator Rob Ryan. Next up:
Hosting the 3-0 Miami Dolphins on Monday night.

RANK

5

3-0BEARS

2

Two things for your consideration:

a) The
Bears' offensive line, despite giving up a couple of sacks, really is playing better. I originally thought all the glowing reports about the improved play of the front five were a bit overblown, but then, holy
cow,
Matt Forte had a huge hole on his
first-quarter touchdown run.

b) The defense truly is scoring at a historic pace.

Since 2011, the
Bears have scored 23 miscellaneous touchdowns, a category that includes all return and defensive scores; the next closest team has 14. That nine-touchdown difference is more than the total number of miscellaneous touchdowns scored by
15 different franchises over the same time period. The
Pittsburgh Steelers, for example, have scored just three miscellaneous touchdowns since 2011.

While it would be nice to see some more consistency from the
Dolphins' offense,
the victory over the Atlanta Falcons was an organization-building win for
Joe Philbin's club.
Ryan Tannehill was far from perfect, but at this point, he's squeezing in two steps forward after every step he takes backward. The second-year quarterback hit nine different receivers Sunday in Miami, with four different guys catching at least four balls.

RANK

8

3-0CHIEFS

5

You want a glimpse of the modern NFL? Look no further than
Andy Reid's
Chiefs, who went from 2-14 to 3-0 in nine months. That's parity, folks. Changing the head coach and/or quarterback makes more of a difference now than perhaps it ever has, given the minute difference between "good" and "bad" teams.

Here's all you need to know about
the Colts' win at Candlestick: Indy ate up seven minutes of clock on a successful touchdown drive, even as the
San Francisco 49ers were desperately trying to make a stop in a 13-7 game. Luck polished off said drive with a short scoring run, the last bunch of the 54 yards the new-look
Colts gained on the ground on that possession alone. This was a physical whuppin' laid on the
49ers -- the second in a row.

Oh, and before we go, all those USC fans who derided Dallas' decision to hire Monte Kiffin might want to rethink their stance. The
Cowboys' defense has been a huge bright spot, ranking second in the NFL in rushing yards allowed (66.3), sacks (13) and opponent time of possession (25:52). The unit is allowing opponents to convert on third down just 29.7 percent of the time (fifth best in the league).

Houston's offense was nothing short of awful in Baltimore. Few fan bases are more impatient with their quarterback play than the followers of Houston and
Matt Schaub.
@McClain_on_NFL was
tweeting gems throughout Sunday's dreadful performance. There's no question, John: Schaub has to play 200 percent better, particularly early in games.

Back-to-back blowout losses, plus a lack of wide receivers and tight ends; it's a combination that signals a massive drop for the
49ers, who have been outscored 84-44 this season. Things were looking ugly at Candlestick for most of the late afternoon
Sunday -- like, from the second quarter on. But what should be expected when your receivers can't get any separation? With no Michael Crabtree or
Vernon Davis,
49ers fans began longing for the halcyon days of Arnaz Battle and Cedrick Wilson. What really was surprising was how San Francisco's lines -- both of them -- were overmatched again.
And now Aldon Smith is gone.

RANK

17

2-1TITANS

5

If you're on any kind of heart medication, please consult your doctor before taking in
Tennessee Titans football, as being a fan of this team might be harmful to your health.

We mentioned
in the picks column last week that
Jake Locker needed to start running more. He must have read it on Sunday morning, because after gaining just 13 yards on seven attempts through the first two games of the season, Locker took off. There's no diminishing the impact of the five runs for 68 yards that Locker recorded
against the San Diego Chargers; that added a big-play dimension that had been missing from the Tennessee offense.

RANK

18

1-2CHARGERS

2

The
Chargers did what they needed to do to pull out a close road win in Nashville ... only to blow it on
an up-for-grabs play. Of course, it seems like nearly every game in the league is up for grabs these days; still, one can make the case that San Diego should be 3-0. After the
Chargersbiffed the opener against the
Houston Texans with play-calling and secondary let-downs,
the loss to the Titans must have made for a very long plane ride to Southern California.

This San Diego defense can play with the
Kansas City Chiefs, and
Philip Rivers can keep up with
Alex Smith. What might push Kansas City to a wild-card slot over the Bolts is the fact that the
Chiefs have a big-time playmaker on both defense (
Justin Houston) and offense (
Jamaal Charles). San Diego certainly is a viable postseason threat, but the team lacks that one guy who can take over.

RANK

19

1-2PANTHERS

4

Had this club laid an egg and fallen to 0-3, who knows what the future would have held for
Ron Rivera (despite what
one report says)? No head coach needed a "W" in Week 3 quite like Rivera did after his defense broke down late in the season's first two weeks.
Sunday in Charlotte held no such drama, as the
Panthers (402 yards) outgained the
New York Giants (150), converting on 8 of 14 third downs.

OK, you get the picture. Actually ... did you know that
Cam Newton had an in-game passer rating of 104.4? All right, we'll stop now.

RANK

20

1-2EAGLES

3

It's amazing, the similarity in scope of the careers of Randall Cunningham and
Michael Vick. A colleague in the industry who has worked for the
Eagles told me the team never will win a championship with Vick, and while I never want to overreact, it's almost impossible to disagree with that sentiment.

That said, the
Eagles' defense played easily its best game
Thursday night --
Connor Barwin in particular made several impressive plays. Still, the unit could not overcome the giveaway-fest hosted by the offense and special teams; facing too many short fields proved to be too much.

RANK

21

2-1JETS

6

Hand it to the
Jets -- they make lovin' fun. New York did everything possible to surrender its
third tight affair of the young season. Despite suffering through 20 penalties --
20 -- and seven punts, the
Jets still gained more than 500 yards of offense. That is absolutely incredible. And give
Bilal Powell his due. For all the offseason chatter about
Chris Ivory -- particularly in
fantasy football -- Powell was the team's MVP against the
Buffalo Bills. Gaining 158 yards on 29 touches in a division game is outstanding. Ivory v. Powell ... it's like Emmitt v. Barry.

If you watched
Rams-Cowboys on Sunday, you saw a quarterback get
no help.
Sam Bradford was hit nearly 20 times by Dallas' pass rushers. Not to worry -- his receivers made up for the poor offensive-line play by dropping several easy catches (and by "easy," we mean "right in the hands, in stride").
Coaching also came into play in this defeat, as the
Rams consistently played with six or seven guys in the box despite the fact that
DeMarco Murray was running all over them. What a brutal afternoon for
Rams fans.

RANK

24

1-2CARDINALS

5

Carson Palmer and the
Cardinals' offense went right down the field on the opening drive
in New Orleans, passing five times and running it six while converting on both third downs and finishing up with a score. But it was all downhill from there. Arizona struggled in protection, struggled to protect the football and struggled in the secondary.

If the
Cardinals can
steal a road win in Tampa Bay this week, they'll have a chance to put together a nice stretch, as they'll be at home for four of five after that.

As far as
the Trent Richardson trade goes, the organization clearly was making a play for the future. Of course,
Browns brass wouldn't tell the fan base that, especially after Richardson and the
Indianapolis Colts demolished the
49ers. Still, I don't think it was a bad move. Many organizations don't believe in spending a first-round draft pick -- especially one in the top five overall -- on a running back.
Browns general manager Mike Lombardi was able to get a future first-round selection for a guy who didn't have first-round value in the organization's eyes. Had Richardson rushed for 905 yards, averaging 3.5 per carry, and scored seven touchdowns in a
Browns uniform this season, how much would Lombardi have been able to get for him in March? Not a first-round choice, I can tell you that.

RANK

26

0-3REDSKINS

2

Don't blame
Redskins fans for panicking.
Robert Griffin III looks out of sync at times, though he threw for 326 yards
against the Detroit Lions. And the
Redskins positively
cannot stop the other teams' quarterbacks. Through three games, Washington has surrendered more than 1,000 passing yards, allowing eight touchdown tosses and snagging just one interception.

On Sunday,
Matthew Stafford completed 25 of 42 attempts for 385 yards and two touchdowns, and he gave up that one pick. Even with those numbers, the
Lions signal-caller actually
lowered the passer rating of all quarterbacks against the
Redskins this season.
Wow.

RANK

27

0-3VIKINGS

1

Minnesota fans were calling for backup quarterback
Matt Casselon Sunday; then
Christian Ponder started running, and the
Vikings climbed back into the contest against the
Browns. Unfortunately, neither those fans nor NFL analysts are seeing development in Ponder's overall game, and that lack of progress is making things harder for
Adrian Peterson.

Ponder's struggles also mean the team must rely on the defense to make plays -- which it has not been able to do effectively. With home games
versus the Pittsburgh Steelers and
Carolina Panthers coming up, there is the potential for the
Vikings to recover from their 0-3 start. Still, this squad certainly missed an opportunity against the
Brian Hoyer-led
Browns.

RANK

28

0-3GIANTS

3

As we were typing this blurb,
Ted Ginn caught yet another touchdown pass, making it 159-6, Carolina.
Throw the game film away, Tom Coughlin. Just do it.

RANK

29

0-3BUCCANEERS

1

The questions about
Josh Freeman won't subside. It's hard to blame Tampa Bay's defense for allowing a couple of touchdown passes when the most the offense could produce is a field goal and a 5-of-18 conversion rate on third and fourth downs. Against a team (the
New England Patriots) that couldn't care
less about time of possession,
the Bucs couldn't, uh, possess the ball.

On the bright side,
Mark Barron and
Lavonte David had nice stat lines, and a healthy
Adrian Clayborn added another sack after missing almost all of last season. Young talent resides in Tampa ... and the offense still stinks.

The big
Monday night loss and
the injury to Terrelle Pryor kick Oakland back down to No. 31. You couldn't leave the telecast Monday night without being impressed with Pryor's poise. Forget the numbers; the kid hung in, didn't panic and often delivered strikes. He wasn't constantly looking to take off and run, either. Simply put, Pryor at least gives his franchise some hope with which to build. #Cool